by E. C. Land
“Fine,” I huff, relenting to the fact he’ll get his way.
“Thank you. We’ll be back. I promise,” Hades says, drawing me into his side and kissing the top of my head.
Nodding my head, I move to sit among the brush to stay hidden as I watch my brother take off in a sprint.
“Don’t worry, Ally, they’ve got this. If I know one thing about my brothers, they’re ruthless when it comes to taking care of a situation like this,” Gadget says reassuringly.
“I hope you're right,” I whisper as I draw my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them. It’s then I realize I’m still in a scrap of material called a bikini with only a thin sundress covering it.
Great.
I bet Burner’s gonna think quite a few things about me when he sees what I have on. Damn it, I wish this nightmare would just end.
Too bad this nightmare is my life.
Chapter Twenty
Burner
Fury consumed me the moment I’d spotted Ally sprinting toward the docks, running for her life. As relieved as I was seeing she was unharmed, at least physically, I was ready to draw blood the moment one of Miguel’s dogs tackled my woman to the ground before we could make it to her.
I’d barely been able to restrain myself when I heard the fucker call Ally a puta. It’s why when he’d started to reach for his gun, I’d shot him right between the eyes.
Shaking my head, I try to clear it as Rage and I approach the house. I need to not worry about anything else right now besides doing what I’m here to do— seek my vengeance for both my ol’ lady and the woman who I thought held my heart. Instead, I realized she only held a piece of it.
“You ready for this, brother?” Rage murmurs as we get closer.
“Abso-fuckin-lutely,” I mutter as I kneel down to lift my pants leg. This job doesn’t require me using my gun but rather a knife I haven’t used since I left its twin in Miguel’s father’s eye socket. Wrapping my hand around the handle of my sawback bowie knife, I draw it from its sheath and stand at the same time movement comes from behind me.
Whipping around, I anticipate an attack only to find Hades stepping forward.
“Where’s Ally?” I ask, furrowing my brow.
“Convinced her to stay back far enough out of the danger so you’d have a clear head,” he says, shrugging his shoulders as he draws his own blade out. “We ready to do this?”
Taking a steady breath, I nod. The fact Ally was seeing reason and staying back is a relief. I didn’t want her to see what I’m about to do. She has enough horrors running around in that head of hers.
“We stay together,” Rage orders.
Nodding, it’s what we do. No matter what, we don’t leave without the other.
On silent feet, we slide around the monstrous house, listening for the yelling coming from inside to see where it was coming from.
“You incompetent idiotas. How could you let your reina escape? Where is she?” Miguel’s screams of outrage carry from somewhere deep inside the house.
“Carlos said he’d catch her. You know he won’t let her get away, boss,” another voice responds.
“He should have been back with her by now,” Miguel growls.
“Don’t worry, boss, he’ll bring her back.”
“She had best not have any marks on her when he does. Mi bella shall be punished by me for her indiscretion in leaving me.” I’d heard enough. Time for this fucker to meet his death.
“What did Kean want?” the other man asks.
“Same as usual, Markus. He wants my help getting the woman who was supposed to marry Kayne and some other woman,” Miguel states, causing me to pause once more.
“Are you going to help him?”
“Sí, I will, after I have things situated here with Ally. She must come first.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Hades snarls under his breath.
Shaking my head, I move quickly, knowing my brothers will follow suit. Making my way through the open doors, I quietly step up behind the first guard and wrap my hands around his head, snapping his neck. The thump of two other bodies follows suit as both Rage and Hades take down two of the other guards. Three down, who knows how many more, but this time around, no one survives.
Ignoring the conversation between Miguel and Markus, I follow it like a homing beacon.
As we push forward, no other guards are found.
“Markus, go after Carlos and hurry him up,” Miguel orders.
Glancing at Rage and Hades, I give them a grin as I nod my head. They both know Miguel is mine. It’s between them who will take out Markus.
Turning back to what I was doing, I stroll into the room to find Miguel pacing on the other side of the room.
“You’ve crossed the line one too many times, asshole,” I growl as I twirl my knife between my fingers.
My voice causes the pathetic man to jump as he spins on his feet to see me standing there.
“Do you really think you can take me? I’ve escaped your attempts twice now. Who's to say I won’t this time?” he laughs.
“Technically, you only escaped once. The last time, I was more worried about helping my brother get his ol’ lady back without her getting her throat slit. You fucked up this time, taking my ol’ lady,” I inform him.
“She is not your anything. Ally belongs to me,” he grinds out.
“Are we really going to do this, the tug-of-war game kids play over toys? I don’t think so. Ally is mine,” I growl as I stalk toward him slowly.
“No,” he roars as he advances on me quickly, swinging his fists.
Without another word, the two of us end up throwing punches. I’ll admit he’s pretty good in a fight, but I’m better. Having had enough, I deliver a high kick to the side of Miguel’s head, sending him reeling backward into the floor-to-ceiling window. Crashing through it, he lands on his back.
His groans of pain are music to my ears as he writhes around on the broken pieces of glass.
Slowly, I make my way toward him. I know I don’t have as much time as I’d like to play with Miguel, but I’m at least going to have some fun, and I have something perfect in mind.
Kneeling next to his side, I pick up a shard of glass to examine it as he stares at me through narrowed eyes.
“Kill me. Get it over with if that’s what you're gonna do,” Miguel bites out.
“Then where would the fun be had if I can’t see you suffer till your last breath,” I retort with a grin as I trail the shard against his cheek, cutting into his skin and drawing blood.
My gaze trailing the trickles of red, I ask, “Did you enjoy raping my Janey? Torturing her for what? Shits and giggles? All because your bitch of a cousin told you to take her from me?”
Drawing my hand back, I thrust the shard into Miguel’s wrist, right into the bone. Releasing the glass, I pick up another piece. “You know she had her whole life ahead of her. She’d been accepted to one of the best universities in Virginia and you stole that from her. I’d only just asked her to marry me when you’d taken her from her home,” I grind out as I pierce his shoulder blade, causing him to let out an ear-splitting shrill.
I do this several times, picking up shards of glass and stabbing them into his body. When I run out of large enough pieces, I grab my knife. “I intend to deliver you straight to the Devil himself. However, you’ll be going without your sight. As deemed worthy of such a punishment, you shall lose your sight as to not set eyes on another woman and cause her pain in this life and the next,” I say as I use the tip of my knife to pop one eyeball out, then the other.
With his eyes in one hand, I put my knife down to grip his mouth open. “Choke on these balls, motherfucker,” I tell him as I shove both eyeballs into his mouth and pat his cheeks.
“Enjoy burning, Miguel,” I say as I lean forward to whisper in his ear right before I slide my knife along his throat deep enough to almost sever his head halfway off. Not satisfied as visions of both Ally’s terrified face and the drea
ms of Janey come forward, I stab him several more times before finally slamming the blade straight through his skull.
Sitting back on my ass, I pant for breath as I try to get my emotions under control.
“For Janey,” Rage murmurs behind me as he kneels and places his hand on my shoulder.
“For Ally,” Hades murmurs, doing the same.
“For both of them, I have sought justice. For both of them, I will move forward,” I whisper as I close my eyes, feeling as if a huge weight is lifted off my chest. “Janey can now rest peacefully.”
“That she can,” my brothers say at the same time.
“What do you say we get out of here? You’ve got a woman who’s most likely going nuts worrying about your crazy ass,” Rage suggests.
“Yeah,” I murmur before glancing down at my clothes. “I think I might need to strip out of these and take a dip in the ocean first. I don’t need to scare her.”
“I’d agree with you there. I think I might have nightmares now thanks to the vision of you ripping the assholes eyeballs out,” Hades says while shuddering.
Flipping my brother off, I start to walk out of the house. “Can one of you go get Gadget and Ally? Gadget needs to work his magic and blow this bitch to smithereens,” I suggest.
“I’ll go get them. You get your ass cleaned up,” Rage says as he starts to walk in the opposite direction.
Stripping out of my clothes, I walk into the water. Closing my eyes, I dive under a wave. As I come up for air, I know without a doubt I did the right thing and can sleep easy as long as I’ve got my Firefly.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ally
Time seemed to crawl from the moment my brother ran off after Burner. Gadget tried to make me feel better, but nothing was helping. I won’t breathe easy until we’re off this God forsaken island.
“They shouldn’t be much longer,” Gadget murmurs quietly.
“How do you know?” I mutter.
“Because I know my brother. He’s gonna get this done as quick as possible to get back to you. He’s been going insane the past few days trying to find you. There’s no way he’ll be able to stay away from you for long. You’re his ol’ lady,” he says softly.
Tears prick my eyes as I take in what he just said. Could I really be Burner’s ol’ lady? I want to be, but now that they found me, will he still want me? I’m constantly surrounded by trouble. It sticks to me like super glue.
The snapping of a twig startles me as I whip my head in the direction it came from. My heart thumps in my chest as I wait to see who’s coming in our direction. When my brother and Rage step into view, my heart plummets at not seeing Burner with them.
“Where is he?” I croak out.
“Come on, Ally. I’ll take you to him. He’s just cleaning up,” Hades says, holding his hand out to help me up from my spot in the sand.
Nodding, I take Hades’ waiting hand and stand. Quickly wiping my butt off, I follow my brother down on the beach to find Burner diving beneath the waves in the moonlight. The sun had long since gone. It had set well before I’d made my escape earlier. I’m not even sure what time it is, but seeing the perfection of Burner, I could care less.
Taking off at a run, I head for Burner. I need to be closer to him to see for myself he’s not harmed in any way.
Not bothering with removing my shirt, I splash through the water, gaining Burner’s attention as he turns to see me coming toward him. Immediately, he catches me in his arms as I throw myself at him and wrap my legs around his waist.
“Firefly, I need you,” he murmurs before slamming his lips to mine. His hands squeeze the bare flesh of my ass.
It might not be ideal, especially for our first time, but damn it, I need him too.
Moving my hips the best I can, I grind myself against his dick.
“Mhmm,” he moans, pulling the thin barely-there material aside and slamming into me with ease.
“Oh God, William,” I pant for breath as he slowly thrusts into me.
“Fuck, baby, you feel good,” he groans, his hands holding me firmly to him. His breathing becomes erratic as he begins to move faster, bringing me closer to my own orgasm.
“I’ll have to make it up to you later, Firefly, but right now, I need you to come,” he demands before taking my mouth in a kiss I’ll remember for the rest of my life. At the same time, my body does as he commands and I come moaning against his mouth. His groans follow directly behind mine as he stills within my body.
“William,” I whisper breathlessly when he pulls back enough to rest his forehead against mine.
“I’m sorry, Firefly. I shouldn’t have taken you like this. You’re meant to have a better time than this, but I couldn’t help myself. I needed to feel you against me as I filled you. To know you were alive with me,” he murmurs, pressing a lavishing kiss to my mouth with each word.
“Don’t be sorry. I needed you just as much. All I kept thinking was I’d never get to tell you how much I love you and to be in your arms right now, I wouldn’t want our first time any other way,” I say softly.
“Love you too, Firefly. Now, let’s get out of the water and find a towel so we can get out of here. We’ll find you some clothes when we get back to Marco Island,” he suggests as he lifts a hand to cup my cheek.
“Good idea. I don’t want to spend any more time in what I have on than I have to,” I mutter, thinking about the scrap of material under the shirt that’s now see-through. Glancing down, I groan at the fact he could see exactly what was underneath.
“Damn, woman, if this were any other time, I wouldn’t mind seeing that shit on you. However, I want that material off you now and burned,” he growls, ripping the shirt right off me with the bikini following suit. “Now, let’s get those towels and get out of here. Gadget should be about done with prepping this place to blow.” Taking my hand, he guides me back to shore.
No more words are spoken, though right now, there’s no need. Not between us.
“Y’all finally ready,” my brother grumbles from where he’s standing with his face diverted away from us.
Crap! I quickly hide behind Burner as he chuckles. “Not funny,” I mutter, slapping his back.
“Gotta find some humor in this, babe. If not, then our minds would go to a place we don’t need to be right now,” Burner says gently over his shoulder as he meets my gaze. Turning back to face my brother, he asks him to find some towels for us, which Hades had been more than happy to oblige.
With a towel wrapped around my body, Burner lifts me into his arms. “It’s time to get out of here,” he murmurs against the side of my face.
“Why do you keep calling me Firefly?” I ask as I lay in the bed with Burner. I’m exhausted, yet my mind won’t shut off.
“Because fireflies light up the darkest part of the night,” he says, his fingers feathering over my back soothingly.
“But that doesn’t explain why you call me that,” I remark, confused by his lack of explanation.
Rolling us so he’s on top of me with his legs between mine, Burner thrusts slowly into me. “I call you Firefly because of this right here, baby. You are the light to my darkness. The one who makes living through the dark easier,” he murmurs as he sinks all the way inside me.
Moaning, my back arches as sensations build. Lifting my hands, I dig them into Burner’s back as he slowly tortures me with his movements.
“Please,” I murmur.
“What was that?” he rasps.
“I need more,” I say.
“More what, baby? Can’t give you something if I don’t know what you want,” he says, peppering kisses along my jaw.
“Harder,” I groan in frustration as I dig my nails into his back.
“Soon enough, Ally. I’m taking my time with you.” Sitting up, Burner lifts my legs, placing them on his shoulders as his thrusts seem to go even deeper.
“William,” I scream as an unexpected orgasm hits me.
“That’s right, baby, clench my
cock with your sweet pussy,” he groans, picking up his momentum as his thrusts become erratic. Reaching between us, he flicks a finger against my clit, spurring another orgasm right after the first one as he groans out his pleasure. Burner bellows my name as he comes inside me. The way his dick twitches inside me prolongs my orgasm.
Moments later, Burner falls to his side and brings me with him until I’m lying across his chest, his dick still hard inside me.
“I love you,” I murmur into his chest before finally relenting to my exhaustion, knowing when I wake up, I’ll still be in this man’s arms.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Burner
The past three weeks have been bittersweet if nothing else. After we got back on the mainland, everything seemed to escalate quickly. Twister had called Hammer, who in turn came with Axe and Malice to escort the bitch back to our clubhouse. They’d been loading Lena into the back of one of their vans when we’d arrived back at the motel.
The moment Hammer saw Ally in nothing but a towel, he’d gone berserk. It’s taken a bit for him to calm down and when he did, he’d pulled his niece in for a hug. At least by that time she was wearing one of my shirts and a pair of my gym shorts with the drawstring pulled as tight as it would go.
My brothers headed home almost immediately, anxious to get home to their own women. Me, I took my time. Ally and I needed time to ourselves. But I couldn’t take as long as I’d wanted. We had to get back.
Mac was buried the day after we got back, and Ally had been a mess, blaming herself for him dying. She blamed herself for everything, including Caden, Horse’s son, still being in the NICU. Kenny, however, put a stop to that immediately when she’d informed Ally she didn’t blame anyone but the bitch who hurt her. Lena was still sitting in the shed. With everything we’d all been going through, she was the last thing we wanted to deal with.
With the bad came the good though, and I certainly enjoyed those.
